The present invention relates generally to a brake control system for an automotive vehicle to prevent the vehicle wheels from skidding upon a rapid application of a brake force. More specifically, the invention relates to a brake control system for controlling the rate of deceleration of the vehicle wheel rotation relative to vehicle speed and corresponding to friction between the tire tread and road surface.
Upon braking of a moving vehicle and the like, such as an automotive vehicle, a vehicle wheel is apt to lock, thereby causing skidding. This will necessarily create an unstable condition in the controlled motion of the vehicle. Wheel lock-up may cause such a loss in directional stability as to result in an uncontrolled skidding while at the same time the presence of locked wheels generally increases the distance required to stop. The increased stopping distance is due to a reduced coefficient of friction while skidding under most road conditions. If skidding can be prevented, the vehicle can usually be stopped more safely in a shorter distance. Therefore, various brake control systems have been developed for preventing the wheels from locking, thereby preventing the vehicle from skidding. General and typical construction of such a brake control system has been described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,897,114, entitled "SKID CONTROL SYSTEM" to Ronald S. Scharlork. The U.S. Patent discloses a brake control system for controlling the braking of a wheeled vehicle to prevent skidding. The system, which provides relief of the braking force applied to the vehicle wheel, is effectively responsive to a critical slip signal. The slip signal is generated in response to a sensed difference between a hypothetical vehicle deceleration, as approximated by a decreasing ramp signal, and the vehicle wheel speed. The comparison is made on a differential basis to provide an output signal which is utilized in controlling an output gate. The braking force is reapplied upon the sensing of a positive wheel acceleration signal and a change in the sign of the rate of change of wheel acceleration from a positive to a negative value. During this period, the skid signal is ineffective to control the brake force.
As is known to those skilled in the art, when rapid braking is applied to a vehicle, a maximum braking effect can be obtained by providing approximately a 15% slip rate for the vehicle wheel with respect to the road surface, since the friction between the wheel tread and road surface is maximized at that time. Accordingly, upon rapid brake operation, it is preferable to control wheel r.p.m. relative to the vehicle speed so that it becomes about 15% lower than the vehicle speed. Namely, the brake control system operates to control the deceleration rate of the wheel r.p.m. with respect to the vehicle speed so that the wheel r.p.m. is not excessively decelerated relative to the vehicle speed. Such operation is provided to avoid locking of the wheels and resultant slipping on the road surface. In practice, when the wheel r.p.m. is decelerated to be about 15% lower than the vehicle speed, a target wheel r.p.m. is determined based on the wheel r.p.m. and a predetermined friction coefficient. Corresponding to the determined target wheel r.p.m., the deceleration rate of the wheel r.p.m. is controlled to change the actual wheel r.p.m. to approach the target wheel r.p.m. Thus, since the deceleration rate of the vehicle depends on friction between the tire tread and the road surface, the target wheel r.p.m. is determined based on the vehicle speed and the friction coefficient.
In actual operation, the braking fluid pressure applied to the brake device of each wheel, i.e., to each wheel cylinder, is relieved in response to deceleration of the wheel r.p.m. to a lower speed than the target wheel r.p.m. When the wheel speed recovers and exceeds the target wheel r.p.m., the braking fluid pressure is again applied to the brake device of each wheel. By repeating this operation, the vehicle can be gradually decelerated without causing locking of the wheel and therefore without causing wheel skidding on the road surface.
In the conventional system, the friction coefficient between the tire's tread and the road surface is presumed to be a constant value which is determined based on general road surface conditions. However, the actual friction coefficient of the tire tread and the road surface varies, depending on wheel tread wear and the road surface condition. If the actual friction coefficient is different from that of the presumed and predetermined value, the target wheel r.p.m. determined based on the predetermined friction coefficient may not correspond to the actual vehicle speed.
For situations wherein the actual friction coefficient is larger than the predetermined value, the wheel r.p.m. is rather rapidly decelerated to reach a predetermined r.p.m. after a relatively short period from braking operation. At the predetermined wheel r.p.m., the target wheel r.p.m. is determined and the brake control system becomes operative. By entering into the controlled state a relatively short period after applying the brake, the target wheel r.p.m. is determined based on a relatively high vehicle speed. Therefore, the braking distance is longer than that required. To the contrary, if the actual friction coefficient is lower than the predetermined value, it takes a relatively long period to decelerate the wheel r.p.m. to the predetermined target wheel speed value. In this case, the target wheel r.p.m. is determined significantly lower than the vehicle speed to cause possible locking of the wheel.
For effectively and satisfactorily controlling vehicle skid due to the vehicle brake system, it is required to determine the most suitable deceleration rate corresponding to friction between the wheel tread and the road surface. As stated above, the friction between the wheel tread and the road surface is maximized for a wheel decelerating rate approximately 15% lower than the vehicle speed. Therefore, by determining the peak coefficient of friction in each cycle of skid control operation and by controlling the ratio of applying and releasing the brake fluid pressure to the wheel cylinder to correspond to the detected peak of the coefficient of friction, the vehicle braking operation can be effected most effectively and satisfactorily.